The Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office is investigating several cases of overdoses among inmates at the Main Jail on Thursday.
Sheriff's officials say the first inmate started experiencing symptoms of an overdose at about 3 p.m. Custody deputies administered Narcan and called paramedics.
Several other inmates then began showing symptoms, multiple ambulances were called to the jail and the inmates were taken to local hospitals for treatment.
Lt. Erik Raney says it's unknown at this time what the inmates ingested or were exposed to but it appears to be some type of opiate.
Raney adds that contraband making its way into jails is a problem that authorities are facing nationwide.
